PHOENIX – Nate Orf has no shot at making the Milwaukee Brewers’ opening-day roster, and he knows it.

Yet ask him how he’s felt so far in camp – his third major-league spring training with the team – and he uses the word “excited.”

How can that be?

Quite simply, Orf knows what his role is within the organization, and he embraces it. He’s the classic overachiever, the guy who signed with the team as an amateur free agent for $500 in 2013 and, against all odds, finally made it to the major leagues in 2018.

Sometime soon, Orf will head to minor-league camp to begin preparing for his fourth season as a utility man for Milwaukee’s Class AAA affiliate. If things break right, he’ll be back up with the Brewers at some point to help fill in the gaps.

And he’ll do it with a smile on his face.

“I think I understand myself as a player a lot better than I have in the past,” said Orf, 29.

“As far as my role this spring, I want to have fun and help other people have more fun. Have a lot of smiles with the guys and enjoy my time. This team is obviously loaded, so it’s going to be a fun year for everybody.

“For me, my hope is I can contribute at some point in the season in the big leagues, and even if it is for a couple games, I hope I can help the team win for those couple games. That’s just how I think my situation looks right now.

“This clubhouse is so full of so many good players and good dudes that it’s just going to be fun. There’s no reason not to enjoy it. The reality is, it’s not going to last forever.”

It seemingly took Orf forever to get himself onto the Brewers’ radar screen.

The Baylor University product began his career in 2013 after receiving that measly signing bonus and slowly began his ascent up the minor-league ladder. By 2017 he’d earned his first invitation to major-league spring training and fared well, hitting .304 in 23 at-bats over 18 games.

Orf followed that up with a .320 average, nine homers, 65 runs batted in and an OPS of .904 in his first full season at the Class AAA level. Then last spring he hit .286/2/4/.888 in 42 at-bats over 27 games and was off to another strong start at Colorado Springs when he received that initial call-up.

It took him only three games to make his mark.

On July 4, he became the 10th Brewers player to homer for his initial big-league hit, a shot that helped seal a victory over the Minnesota Twins. It also earned Orf an unexpected curtain call when teammates Jesús Aguilar and Manny Piña lifted him onto their shoulders and carried him up the dugout stairs.

Nate Orf goes down the line in the Brewers dugout after slugging a homer against the Twins, his first hit in the majors.(Photo: Associated Press)

That would be the high point for Orf, who collected only one more hit – a single – in two more stints in Milwaukee. But it was enough to convince him that the years of struggling on a minor-league salary were worth it.

“I had to put a lot of work in,” he said. “The seasons and the BPs and the ground balls and the winter ball, that’s how that felt. Also, I’ve had to do that. I’ve had to do that to take my game up to a level high enough to get the call-up.

“But I’m confident in my game now, and I just want to enjoy it. I’m hoping that’ll lead to some special moments in the near future, and many more moments to come.”

Orf is hitting .231 with a homer in 15 games and 26 at-bats this spring. Manager Craig Counsell, who forged a 16-year career in the majors as an overachiever, admires Orf and what he’s done to get to this point.

“He made it to the big leagues last year. He had a big moment, he won a game for us, so I think that does take the pressure off a little bit,” he said. “Nate's got to perform. He's got to just keep performing, and that's how he's going to crack through again. He knows that, and he's capable of it.

“His experience in Triple-A, he's very capable of having big seasons there and that's what you have to do to get back. How his role fits in the 25-man roster, he's behind some guys, but during the season we know there's opportunities for recall and that means you have to perform.

“The circumstances have to be right, too, and that's kind of his lot a little bit. But we have all the confidence in the world him. If Nate Orf is the guy we're bringing up, I'm great with that.”

Orf’s locker in the new and expanded clubhouse in Maryvale is located in between those of Corey Ray and Lucas Erceg – two of the organization’s top prospects – and that most certainly isn’t by accident as he also plays the role of mentor to his younger teammates who will join him at San Antonio.

It’s common for players who have had a taste of the big leagues to grow disenchanted at the Class AAA level as they seek their next trip back. But that just isn’t Orf’s style. He’s happy to keep playing, working at earning his way back and setting a good example along the way.

“It looks like we’re going to have a pretty young group at Triple-A this year, pretty inexperienced. It’s not often that you say that,” Counsell said.

“Nate has turned into the guy that’s spent parts of the last three seasons there, so he’s our experienced Triple-A position player and he’s the guy you lean on for all that stuff."

“For Nate, there’s two ways – you can either play so well that we don’t have a choice (to call you up), or it’s a little bit of timing. Something has to happen at the right time. It’s not in your control I guess is what I’d say, and that’s hard to deal with sometimes.

“But if you can, it probably allows for a little more success.”

In his sixth year with the organization, Orf becomes a minor-league free agent following the season. He’d like to remain with Milwaukee but is realistic about his standing.

“The future is unknown. This could be my last year with these players,” he said. “I just want to enjoy it from every aspect. I feel like the weight’s off, the pressure’s off and I want to perform better than ever. I want to put numbers up to force them to call me up.

“I plan on having a good big-league career still, and I feel like there’s plenty left in my tank to do so.”